Najee Brings “Mind Over Matter” Live to J&R Music

Thursday, September 17th at 6:00 pm, Najee will give a live performance followed by an autograph signing at J&R Music World, 25 Park Row.

In the ever changing music world, consistency is a much-treasured quality. Over ten albums (including two platinum and four gold sets) and a two-decade-long career, renowned saxophonist, flautist, songwriter and producer Najee has distinguished himself as one of the most consistently popular instrumentalists among both jazz and R&B audiences worldwide.

The native New Yorker continues to provide quality music, which is evident in Mind Over Matter, his August 25, 2009 release on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. “I started out in the R&B world,” he comments, “and I made R&B-flavored records with the saxophone. Over time, some of that audience crossed over to jazz. In fact, I’ve had people tell me that my music was like a bridge from R&B to jazz, and that’s something I’ve been credited with since the start of my career. With this new album, I want to reconnect with my early audiences as well as appeal to the smooth jazz market with which I’ve been associated for a while.”

After studying with legends such as Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster and Billy Taylor at Jazzmobile in Harlem, Najee’s “break” came when he auditioned for soulful diva Chaka Khan and began touring with her in the early ’80s.

It wasn’t long before he landed his first recording contract with EMI, and with radio-friendly cuts like “Sweet Love” and “Betcha Don’t Know,” Subsequent releases earned him Soul Train Music Awards for Best Jazz Artist in 1991 and 1993.

Najee’s many career highlights have included performing at Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration in South Africa and and his two years of touring (2001-2003) with music icon Prince.

Najee’s last few years have included appearances at jazz festivals throughout the U.S., Nigeria, South Africa and Indonesia. That his special brand of music has universal appeal is unquestionable, and with Mind Over Matter, his third Heads Up release, Najee is back with an album that is soul-satisfying and rich in diverse musical textures.

The album title, says Najee, is inspired by Miles Davis’ approach to songwriting, especially in the latter part of his career. “In his later years, he took a very loose and improvisational approach,” he says. “He would start with nothing more than a groove that Marcus Miller or some other member of his band would lay down. And from there he would just develop these melodies that were very simple but at the same time very compelling and very memorable. It was a creative process that bypassed the nuts and bolts of the song and just got right to the essence of it.”

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